The State Prosecutor's Office said Thursday that it "strongly condemns the serious allegations raised this week by MK Simcha Rotman, chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which indicate, among other things, that the State Prosecutor's policy regarding the enforcement of incitement offenses has allegedly led to the deprivation of human life."
Exclusive confrontation between the founder of Brothers in Arms and Simcha Rotman // Yoni Rikner
The State Prosecutor's Office added: "This is a vicious, baseless accusation that borders on incitement and harms public servants who do their job faithfully. Needless to say, the enforcement policy in these offenses is derived from the Attorney General's directives and the Supreme Court's rulings, and according to them alone, we act."
The announcement came against the backdrop of a report on Channel 12 News last night in which journalist Guy Peleg quoted Rothman as saying that "the blood of those murdered Hillel Weigel will yield in Huwara redder than the blood of those murdered on October 7." According to the report, the remarks were made during a conversation with Shin Bet officials and representatives of the Justice Ministry, which was intended to precede a discussion in the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which Rotman chairs.
While I was at the funeral of a fallen IDF soldier who fell alongside his friends from all segments of the Israeli population, Channel 12 took pains to create a false and inciting blood libel that never existed.
For the avoidance of doubt, in no way or form, neither in closed conversations nor in open conversations, has it been said or implied by me as if someone's blood is redder than someone's...
— Simcha Rothman (@rothmar) November 1, 2023
Rothman denied the allegations and tweeted on his X (formerly Twitter) account: "While I was at the funeral of an IDF fallen soldier who fell alongside his friends from all segments of the Israeli population, Channel 12 took pains to create a false and inciting blood libel that never existed. For the avoidance of doubt, in no way and in any way, neither in closed conversations nor in open conversations, has it been said or implied by me as if someone's blood is redder than someone else's, and this is a complete lie," Rothman said.
Following the publication, Rothman sent a warning letter this morning, writing, among other things, that "this is one of the most serious libels imaginable. Not only did my client not say this, but he said explicitly, in a hearing concerning the change in the prosecutor's policy in recent days, that if it had been done earlier, many lives could have been saved."
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